House of H ups Loop Street’s food cred

Move over Bree Street! Loop Street is stepping into the culinary limelight, with the opening of some hot new restaurants that are setting the #instafood bar very high. The most recent addition is an unpretentious hangout, whose back-to-basics approach to food is so refreshing, and so current.

After years of developing menus for some of Cape Town’s top restaurants, chef-owner Heinrich Koen decided to pursue his vision and open his own eatery, called House of H.

Setting the Scene

The converted parking lot has been brought to life by H’s wife, whose fantastically quirky taste has added warmth and charm to the entire space. Exposed brick walls, reclaimed wooden furniture, life-sized Marmite stools and shelves packed with vintage tins are just some of the aspects that caught our eye. Herbs and mushrooms used in the making of our meal form part of the decor, as does the locally sourced organic produce that’s also available for purchase. When the sun goes down, resident DJ JonnyRazor is responsible for good vibrations on vinyl decks.

An on-site barber shop, coffee bar serving Deluxe Coffeeworks (with a rooftop bar in the pipeline) further add to House of H’s all-inclusive vibe. But it’s the food H is dishing up in the restaurant kitchen that we couldn’t wait to tell you about.

Good food made real good

The menu is seasonal and changes daily according to the produce in stock, but you can expect regulars such as various cuts of meat, burgers, and a delicious display of salads. We sampled the charred broccoli, eggplant, roasted butternut, deep-fried parsnip and pasta pesto salads – all so good that, for a minute, I considered vegetarianism. If you’re a carb-lover, the skinny hand-cut chips are fried to perfection and in a class of their own.

When you’re ready to order off the chalkboard menu, make your way to the pass, where H will cut your steak or cook your burger right in front of you.

The service method (your own POS card) is great for big groups, considering how splitting the bill can sometimes put a damper on an evening out:

On the topic of an evening out, don’t leave without trying the R5 (no, that’s not a typo) Black Label shot. It’s a Jagerbomb, but the Red Bull is replaced with Black Label and the Jagermeister with Creme Soda and Absinthe. Woohoo! It’s a cracker! Oh, and the koeksister waffle – served with Japanese green tea-infused cream cheese and berry compote – is a must!

The Inside Guide has made every effort to ensure that the information in this post was correct at the time of publication. However, we do not assume any liability caused by errors, such as price, cost, time, and location.